Should a UK tax avoider be UK BBC sports personality.

[mellyboy]

Should someone who the media says come from Stevenage but who in fact moved to Switzerland than Monaco to avoid paying UK taxes be BBC UK  sports personality. He said he was proud to wave the union flag but by not paying his taxes here he is a  bloody Hypocrite  . He should be in the international award category as he is a non dom.

Edited 14 December, 2014 by mellyboy

[MartynVRS]

Not sure if serious. Sportsmen and women of this country have done it for years. The runner up is the same too.

[Brimma]

Should Take That still be allowed to make money fro TV appearances and tours etc

They're all reasons why this country is as deep in the shoite as we are

[Ootohere]

Should anyone be allowed to vote that does not pay a Licence Fee,

& should they even be able to receive or listen to BBC programmes 

or use BBC online facilities?

[BJM]

Sure, why not.

 

Since he takes part in an international sport, which only takes place in this country over 3 days per annum, why should he be expected to remain in a country which has traditionally over-taxed high achieving earners?

[mellyboy]

Not sure if serious. Sportsmen and women of this country have done it for years. The runner up is the same too.

Just because they have avoided tax but moving to tax havens does not make it right . I assume you pay your tax here are you happy with guys who proudly  has a the union flag on his  overalls then  becomes a non dom, he obviously can lives where he likes but don't pretend to  a proud Brit when you have done a runner to avoid  UK taxes

[mellyboy]

Sure, why not.

 

Since he takes part in an international sport, which only takes place in this country over 3 days per annum, why should he be expected to remain in a country which has traditionally over-taxed high achieving earners?

Fine but do not pretend to be such a loyal Brit !!!!

[Brimma]

I find LH to be a bit of a smarmy b*gger TBH

[RichVRS777]

Sports personality of the year. An award recognising sporting excellence over the calendar year. His potentially controversial tax scheme has nothing to do with what he achieved in his sport over the past year.

[ExpatHotspur]

I find his public speaking irritating, so many false platitudes and religious references. That said, in the car, the guy is a demon, and fully deserving of this award. Lewis is only doing what you would do in the same situation, its what his fellow race drivers do, its what fellow international sportsmen do, just about any tv figure worth anything, and countless business owners with no public profile. Just happens to be LH on TV this evening. Financial astuteness and sporting prowess aren't correlated, go ask David James 

[mellyboy]

I find his public speaking irritating, so many false platitudes and religious references. That said, in the car, the guy is a demon, and fully deserving of this award. Lewis is only doing what you would do in the same situation, its what his fellow race drivers do, its what fellow international sportsmen do, just about any tv figure worth anything, and countless business owners with no public profile. Just happens to be LH on TV this evening. Financial astuteness and sporting prowess aren't correlated, go ask David James

Tax avoidance is ok because anyone who is anyone does it fine, are you happy to pay your taxes with this in mind ,if you do that is. Please don't tell me what I would do if I was in his position I may be in a position where It could it be to my advantage to indulge in tax avoidance but choose not to . Edited 15 December, 2014 by mellyboy

[gallego1968]

If you were in the same shoes you would be doing the same, he was voted on what he achieved and not about taxes.

[jlwah]

It might be worth looking at this from a different direction - why are our tax rates set at a level that encourages people to move to a different country to avoid paying it?

 

Bring down taxes and people stay.

 

Or campaign to have a "BBC, UK Resident Sports Personality of the Year" award.

[mellyboy]

If you were in the same shoes you would be doing the same, he was voted on what he achieved and not about taxes.

Hi I was not aware you know me so well that you know me so well as know how I would run my personnel finances.

[ExpatHotspur]

Mellyboy - It would appear I've upset you, I apologise for making generalizations about your finances.

 

If I had the level of income Lewis does to run a private jet, so I could be in the UK to see family within 12 hours, I would definitely be minimizing my tax bill by emigrating. This is my personal opinion & preference, as a taxpayer. I can't choose to pay tax, I must, I like the idea of contributing to public goods, but when you see how it is spent sometimes, I would like more control on how much of my income is spent if that were viable. I don't, I have one source of income, from my employer, which is straight forward to track.

[kevberlin]

It appears to me that Hamilton has been well coached over the last year or so on public relations. His public Union Jack waving has been particularly nauseating.

SPOTY is another load of pointless television drivel for the multi millionaires to wave their apparent humility, patriotism and public empathy.

[Rustynuts]

If I had the money LH has made this year alone, I'd be living abroad avoiding tax as well. I see little point in paying tax in the order of millions of pounds for the UK government to **** it up the wall at every available opportunity. If they spent it a litte more wisely and with some thought for the country as a whole (instead of the narrow minded attitude of lining their own pockets and looking after their own future interests) then maybe tax would be a better idea.

 

As for should LH have won? Well, I'd rather he won than the golfer. I don't really class golf as high on the sporting achievement list. Sure, it's a nice walk out, and it's a fair skill to hit a well manicured lawn with a small ball from a distance, but I prefer sports along the lines of the Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius, where someone pushes themselves beyond the limits of his competitors.

[Clunkclick]

You don't see many average income ordinary people  adopting non-dom status to avoid tax liability.  Why us that ?

 

I wonder if these wealthy celebs, left to their own devices, would do this, in the absence of the advice of legions of tax advisers whose age-old agenda seems to be avoid all tax at all cost. Lets face it, some of them haven't got two neurons to rub together and its their personal managers that make the decision.

 

All it does is put them in the same category as politicians - waving the flag whilst simultaneously selling the rest of us down the river.

 

Most of the TG audience are lkkely to be the sane mentality as the cekebs, so the decision is unlikely to effect xmas DVD sales.

 

 

Wonder if the great white hope, aka Russell Brand, pays full UK tax ?

 

Nick

Edited 15 December, 2014 by Clunkclick

[Norco]

Keeping it on a sporty theme "Don't hate the player, hate the game"

 

If I had that kind of income I would also want to reduce my tax burden and would of course take the advice of a tax professional to help me do that. Anyone that would happily pay 45p in the £ in tax without wanting to reduce it, is frankly daft.

 

The majority of the professional athletes that crossed that stage last night will be either non doms or in some kind of scheme.

 

The issue is how do you make the UK tax system friendly enough (or vicious enough) so that taking money out of the UK is less palatable.

 

Amazon et al have been doing this for years and on a much more industrial scale. This I find a lot more distasteful simply because they make money from joe public then spirit that money away. How do they do this? Well they employ the same tax advisers that the government have used to create the rules. Convenient no? It finally looks like the government is paying this some attention though once we actually see the money from these companies rolling in I will believe it. This will pale LH and crew into insignificance.

 

LH - Great driver, deserved winner.

[Aspman]

He should have a personality first.

 

In fairness most F1 drivers come across as a bit robotic.

 

Bit rant on Yahoo about Ronnie O'Sullivan not even being nominated ever.

[Structures]

It's not the BBC tax payer of the year awards is it?

[mellyboy]

It's not the BBC tax payer of the year awards is it?

His award was for the UK sports person if you read my OP I said he should be in the International sports person category . He does not live here, he does not pay his tax here , he does not work for a British based company . He says he pays tax all over the world so I think that makes him a international person. Edited 15 December, 2014 by mellyboy

[mellyboy]

Sorry double post

Edited 15 December, 2014 by mellyboy

[Structures]

His award was for the UK sports person if you read my OP I said he should be in the International sports person category . He does not live here, he dose not pay his tax here , he does not work for a British based company . He says he pays tax all over the world so I think that makes him a international person.

 

I guess in that case it's entirely down to what it says on his passport.

[JosipB]

If I had the money LH has made this year alone, I'd be living abroad avoiding tax as well. I see little point in paying tax in the order of millions of pounds for the UK government to **** it up the wall at every available opportunity. If they spent it a litte more wisely and with some thought for the country as a whole (instead of the narrow minded attitude of lining their own pockets and looking after their own future interests) then maybe tax would be a better idea.

 

As for should LH have won? Well, I'd rather he won than the golfer. I don't really class golf as high on the sporting achievement list. Sure, it's a nice walk out, and it's a fair skill to hit a well manicured lawn with a small ball from a distance, but I prefer sports along the lines of the Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius, where someone pushes themselves beyond the limits of his competitors.

 

Yes, but if Vettel/Alonso/Ricciardo had the Mercedes this year, would Hamilton still have won?

In golf, the individual skill is more of a differentiator rather than the equipment.